A Country Affair

by Rebecca Shaw

  “I know. I’m ringing Miss Beaumont tonight to see if she’ll tutor me.”

  “I thought that thin little man—I forget his name—taught you chemistry.”

  “He did and I never got on with him because he was lazy. That’s why I didn’t get an A. He was useless. Miss Beaumont is brill; we got on really well.”

  Mia brushed a strand of loose hair away from Kate’s face. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thanks, Mia. I’m not telling anyone what I’ve done. Not till I’ve got a grade A, then if I don’t, they won’t be any the wiser.”

  “I think Adam should know.”

  Kate put down her slice of toast and studied Mia’s loving face. “He’ll do his best to stop me.”

  “He can’t, though, can he, actually stop you? You’re a free agent.”

  “He’ll finish with me.”

  “Haven’t you already finished with him?” The questioning look on Mia’s face made Kate stare at her.

  “Do you know, I think I already have, as you say. He’s so peculiar at the moment. I don’t even like him.”

  “I certainly didn’t like him the other night.”

  “Truth to tell, you never really have liked him, have you?”

  Mia fiddled with the sugar basin, put two spoonfuls into her cup and then, without thinking what she was doing, added another. “It’s that obsession of needing to do the same things at the same time every week. It demonstrates a strange kind of insecurity. Or is he a power freak? He lacks spontaneity. It’s odd in such a young man. I never noticed it at first, or has it gotten worse?”

  “Worse.”

  “You see, it’s only fair to tell him because if you do get in, it means he must wait another five years and he should know, or if he wants to find someone else, he should know where he is . . . with you.”

  Kate stood up to go, having seen the clock. “Sometimes one has moments of blinding insight when one sees so clearly it’s almost frightening.” Mia nodded. “You asking me if I hadn’t already finished with him made me realize that yes, I have. Trouble is, will he finish with me?” Kate shuddered slightly.

  “Well, you must be honest; tell him outright, but very kindly. You know.”

  “I know. Thank you, Mia, I don’t know where I’d be without you.”

  Staring into the distance, Mia answered, “Whatever you do, you mustn’t drift into marriage just because someone is there and there isn’t anyone else on the horizon, and he’s comfortable and suitable. You musn’t fool yourself. You’ve got to marry for love.”

  “Did you marry for love?”

  Mia looked up at her, smiling. “Oh yes! I married for love.” She reached out, and taking Kate’s hand in hers, pressed it to her cheek.

  Kate’s face lit up with amazement. “Not of me?”

  Mia nodded.

  “I didn’t know. Thank you.” She was silent for a moment, taking in the full implication of Mia’s words and of how she’d taken Mia’s love all these years without giving it a thought, then brought things back to normality with, “See you tonight. I’m split shift today, so I’ll go shopping this afternoon and be home about seven-thirty, with any luck. If you and Dad are going out, don’t worry about me. OK?” Kate bent to kiss Mia’s cheek. “Bye! Let me tell Dad.”

  BEARING in mind Gerry’s warning not to fritter away her granny’s money, Kate decided to spend some of it that very afternoon. She desperately needed new clothes and she also intended treating herself to a nice lunch in the Bite to Eat cafin the shopping precinct to celebrate having taken the big decision.

  Most of the dress shops in her spending bracket had autumn sales on, so after a splendid lunch, which she thoroughly enjoyed, she set off to spend, spend, spend.

  It was a day for swift decisions, and she made them. A suit, a party dress, some lingerie and a jacket. She came out of Next, turning left to head for her car, intending to put all her bags in the trunk and to return for a pleasant reviving cup of tea in the Food Gallery surrounding the main shopping square. Kate set off at a pace and had gone quite a way when she realized she’d left the jacket she’d just bought in the shop. Without stopping to inspect her bags to make sure, she swung around to return to the shop and bumped headlong into Adam.

  “Ooh! Sorry! Adam! What a surprise! What are you doing here?”

  Adam appeared as surprised as she was and twice as flustered. Kate asked him if he was not working today. “Having a late lunch.” He looked at her, long and deep, and put out a hand to take her bags. “If you’re leaving, I’ll help you with those to the car.”

  “I’ve just bought a jacket in Next and I’ve left it on the counter, so I’m going back to get it.”

  “I’ll come with you, then.”

  Kate retrieved her jacket and went with Adam to the car park. On the way she debated whether or not to go straight back to the practice, thus avoiding a talk with Adam, but she decided there was no time like now and asked him if he had time for a cup of tea. He glanced at his watch and accepted. “I’ve put in a lot of hours this week. They can’t complain.”

  His Adam’s apple was bobbing up and down quite vigorously and she wondered about the stress he must be under with this promotion. “Are you settling in?”

  “Settling in?”

  “In your new job?”

  “Oh yes! Day off, is it?”

  She explained about the split shift.

  “I see.” He gazed over the balustrade, watching the shoppers walking about below. “Nice spot, this. Come here often?”

  “No, just sometimes. I got Granny Howard’s money this week, so since I needed new clothes, I came shopping.”

  “Come in handy, that will. Take care of it.”

  “Handy for what?”

  “Our deposit on a house.”

  A terrible feeling of suffocation came over Kate and she had to breathe deeply to rescue herself. Things were much worse than she had thought; he must be losing his marbles.

  “There’re some nice starter homes being built the other side of town. I thought we might go and look at them.”

  “You might, but I’m not.”

  Adam picked up his cup and toasted her with it. “To us. We’ll look somewhere else, then.”

  “We won’t. I’m not ready to get married yet. Not for a long long while.” Now was the time to tell him what she’d done this morning on her way to work, but something in his eyes held her back from spilling the beans.

  He continued eagerly, as if she’d never spoken, “I’ve just had the most tremendous idea. Mother’s house is not suitable for an up-and-coming man. How about if she sells and we use the money and your granny’s to buy a bigger house, and we all live together? That way, if I work long hours, which one does if one is in a top executive position, you’d always have someone at home for company and to give you a hand with the children. What do you think, eh? Good idea, isn’t it?”

  The nightmarish turn his conversation had taken scared Kate to death. Live with his mother! That martinet! That nitpicking, overindulged, idle hypochondriac of a woman! He must be going mad, or else she was. Kate, overcome by her inability to deal with the situation, glanced at her watch. “Look at the time! I’m going to be late.”

  “You’ve half an hour yet. What’s the rush?”

  “Anyone would think you hadn’t a job to go to. Well, I have and I can’t be late.”

  “Think about it, will you, Kate?” He looked pleadingly at her.

  “Adam, I’ve told you. I’m not ready to get married yet.”

  “But I love you.”

  His vulnerability, which she’d successfully ignored these last two or three weeks, struck her anew. She patted his clenched fist, saying, “I know you do and I appreciate how you feel, but I don’t want marriage and babies right now.”

  “We’ll go out for a drink tonight and we’ll talk some more. I’ll come around about eight. You’ve no other plans, have you?”

  Kate sighed within herself. “All right, then.”
>
  She left him sitting at the table finishing his cup of tea. Looking back at him as she left the caf she paused for a moment, trying to see him as others did. With great clarity of mind she recognized him as a loser: head down, shoulders bowed, clenched fists laid on the table, he seemed . . . Suddenly he looked directly at her and a shiver of fear ran down her spine. It confirmed as nothing else had done that Adam was not for her.

  THE clinic that afternoon was busy; it seemed to her that every single animal on their books, both large and small, had decided it was dying on its feet. Kate always found the four-till-seven clinic busy, but this was ridiculous.

  At five past four, little Miss Chillingsworth came in with her cat. “I know I haven’t an appointment, Kate dear, but she really is very poorly today.”

  “Vomiting again?”

  Miss Chillingsworth nodded bleakly. “She can’t keep a thing down. I’ve casseroled some chicken for her, but she can’t even manage that.”

  Privately Kate thought Miss Chillingsworth would be all the better for eating the casserole herself, for today she seemed smaller and thinner than ever. “Take a seat, Miss Chillingsworth, and I’ll see what I can do. I’ve no doubt Mr. Murgatroyd will find a space for you.”

  Miss Chillingsworth’s face lit up. “Oh, he will when he knows it’s me. He loves my Cherub.” As if to emphasize the fact, Cherub Chillingsworth howled pathetically. “You see, she is in pain.”

  Kate broke off to answer the phone and squeezed in yet another client appointment for Valentine Dedic in room three. Catching Graham between clients, Kate asked him if he would fit in Cherub Chillingsworth.

  Graham grimaced. “Not again. I swear there’s nothing wrong with Cherub but old age and too much coddling. However, I will see her. Wheel her in after this next client. It’s only a booster—shouldn’t take long.”

  Graham weighed Cherub and found she had lost weight—not much but enough to make him think Miss Chillingsworth might be right. “Now see here, Miss Chillingsworth, we’ve done blood tests, found nothing; we’ve kept a close watch and found nothing, and now Cherub has lost weight again.”

  “I knew she had; I could tell.” Miss Chillingworth’s eyes flooded with tears.

  “I’d like to x-ray her, her stomach and such, but . . .”

  “Yes?”

  Graham propped himself against the examination table. “But I hesitate to suggest it because it will cost money, you see, and you’ve already spent a lot. How do you feel about it? She’s very old.” He checked the computer screen. “Yes, as I thought, seventeen. That is old to go through an X-ray because she’ll have to have an anesthetic, you see, which won’t be good for her.”

  Her bottom lip was trembling, but Miss Chillingsworth did her best not to let her voice shake. Defiantly she said, “She may be old, but she’s . . . lively and still has a good quality of life, you know, when she’s well.”

  “I know. Yes, of course.” Gently Graham suggested, “You could always go to the RSPCA. They can do it for nothing.”

  Miss Chillingsworth was shocked. “I am not in need of charity, Mr. Murgatroyd, no, certainly not, and whatever Cherub needs, she will get. I’ll find the money.”

  “Very well, but even if she has an X-ray, that’s no guarantee we can sort out what ails her. At her age . . .” Graham gravely shook his head.

  “I know what you’re trying to tell me, but Cherub and I will go down fighting.”

  “Bring her tomorrow. Eight A.M. Can you manage that?”

  Miss Chillingsworth drew herself up to her full height. “Of course I can.” Picking up Cherub, who looked up at her owner as though she’d understood every word, Miss Chillingsworth went out of the consulting room.

  Kate saw her sadness immediately and managed to catch Miss Chillingsworth’s eye. “How’re things with Cherub?”

  Miss Chillingsworth put Cherub gently on the reception counter and while Kate stroked the old cat comfortingly she got her answer. “Dear Mr. Murgatroyd, he’s going to x-ray her tomorrow morning. Now, my dear, I want him to know he can do his very best for her without any anxiety about money. So can I put her in her carrying cage and leave her here while I go to the bank to get the money out? I shall feel happier if it’s here waiting and then Mr. Murgatroyd can go ahead with whatever he needs to do.”

  “There’s really no need. You can pay tomorrow when you come to collect her. It’s quite in order to do that.”

  “No, my dear, I want the money here on the premises and I want you to tell Mr. Murgatroyd it is here waiting and that he won’t have to hold back on anything he needs to do.”

  “But . . .”

  “No, I insist. I don’t like the idea that he might think I’m too poor to pay and will take short cuts because of it. I shall feel more comfortable if he knows the money’s waiting.”

  “But I don’t know how much it will be.”

  “I shall bring one hundred pounds and if it’s not enough, I shall bring the balance. If it’s too much, then I know you’ll take good care of it for me and give me back what’s left over.”

  “I don’t know if I’m supposed to do this.”

  “Well then, it’s just between you, me and Mr. Murgatroyd. Now here’s Cherub. You keep her behind the desk; she doesn’t like all the dogs, you see.” She handed the cage over to Kate, who put it on the floor near her feet.

  “Mind how you go, Miss Chillingsworth.”

  “I will.”

  Lynne Seymour was on duty with Kate that night, but somehow she had managed to disappear at the crucial moment when all hell was let loose. Two dogs had a serious go at getting a cat out of its basket, someone taking a sympathetic peep at their budgerigar let it out by mistake and to cap it all, someone’s dog cocked a leg down the front of the reception desk.

  “Lynne! Lynne! Can you come, please?” Kate shouted, and eventually, at a pace more suited to a summer’s afternoon stroll, Lynne appeared.

  “What’s up?”

  “What’s up?” Kate was on the brink of giving her a piece of her mind, but just then Miss Chillingsworth came back clutching her bag. She waited until peace was restored and handed the money to Kate.

  “I’ll give you a receipt in just a moment.”

  “Don’t worry, my dear. Please. I want to get home. Cherub must be tired.”

  “I’d much rather . . .”

  “Not at all.”

  “Well, I’m on first thing tomorrow, so . . .”

  “Good night, dear. And thank you. Tell Mr. Murgatroyd.” Miss Chillingsworth trotted out with her cat, waving cheerily to Kate. “I’m full of hope for tomorrow.”

  Kate didn’t have her confidence. She wrote “Miss Chillingsworth” on the envelope and put the money in a drawer under some papers until she had a moment to open the safe, which had to be done when two of them were free to do so.

  The evening dragged its feet and by the time the last client had gone, Kate was exhausted. Home, a meal and bed was all she could think about and then she remembered Adam was collecting her. Blast. She heard Graham and Valentine talking about the meal Valentine’s wife had planned for the two of them, and Lynne and the two Sarahs agreeing to go to the Fox and Grapes.

  Seeing a way of avoiding a whole evening chewing over Adam’s plan of marrying her and dumping his mother on her, Kate asked, “Could I join you there? Would you mind?”

  Sarah Two looked at her and smiled. “Why not? The more the merrier.”

  “The only thing is Adam will be with me; do you mind?”

  “Not at all. Lynne’s dragging her two brothers out with her, so we’ll make a night of it. It’ll be fun.”

  “Thanks.”

  IN fact, the evening that Kate had dreaded but had hoped to rescue by giving Adam no chance to talk about their future turned into a complete disaster. First, Adam hadn’t wanted to join them all, but Kate had insisted. Lynne’s brothers teased Adam mercilessly but in a very subtle way so that they were partway through the evening before Kate even realized what
they were up to.

  Finally, she made a move to leave while the night was still young.

  “Don’t go; the party’s just getting going,” Lynne protested.

  “I don’t intend to sit here to watch Adam on the receiving end of your brothers’ sarcasm. He’s been very patient so far, but that’s it. I’ve had enough.”

  Eyebrows raised in surprise, Lynne pretended innocence. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “If you don’t, they do.” Kate turned to the two young men and said, “I think your behavior has been childish in the extreme. It’s about time you grew up and learned good manners. Good night.”

  She stormed out, followed by Adam, who had not recognized what they were up to. Kate, now thoroughly upset because she could hear the two of them laughing as they left the bar, turned the wrong way in the car park and had to ask Adam where his car was.

  “It’s over there on the other side. I thought they were interested in what I did. They kept asking questions.”

  “Oh, they did; they were just leading you on. Didn’t you see that? They are absolutely so arrogant. They think your job’s the biggest joke ever.”

  “Joke? But it isn’t; it’s important. What do they do, then?”

  “They both work in the City at something exotic, which means they earn thousands and thousands a year. They were both at Oxford and think themselves exceedingly superior. Which in my opinion they most certainly are not.”

  Adam unlocked his Toyota. “I see.”

  “Drive me home.”

  “But they kept asking me questions about what my job involved.”

  Kate sighed. “Honestly Adam, you are dim sometimes. They were mocking you. Couldn’t you tell?”

  “No.” He crashed the gears, which made him wince. “I don’t understand why they wanted to do it to me.”

  “Well, you wouldn’t, would you.” She shut her lips tight for fear she might tell him why. They’d set out to humiliate him because his job in their opinion—and she had to admit sometimes in hers too—was so ridiculously trivial as to be ludicrous and he hadn’t realized it. She should have felt sorry for him, but instead she felt nothing but . . . Well, go on, then, Kate Howard, what do you feel? That Adam was a joke? That her own self-worth made her not want to be associated with someone so full of his own importance that he couldn’t recognize blatant mockery? Sorry for him? A bit. But most of all she wanted to laugh. For a little while she smothered her true feelings and then they burst out of her in loud laughter. With her head thrown back, she simply roared.